Year 6

Welcome to Year Six!

So, here we are, ready for the adventure to begin in year six! Year six is always such an important year; it is a time of transition where you have the opportunity to reflect on all the amazing memories which you have created during your time at Burghfield St. Mary’s, as well as looking forward to the next phase in your life. It is also a year of opportunities: key roles and responsibilities, outdoor adventurous visits and the school play, where you can give the best of yourselves and become fabulous role models. You are the ‘top of the school’ and others will look up to you to lead the way.

No-one underestimates the challenges we will face too. Remember, it is important to communicate with us and say how you feel as we create our new normal in year six. Talk to us, use the post it note system and always share your joys and your worries. We are here for you. Anything that you are unsure about – please ask. We are always here to listen.

So, onto the ‘work.’ Here are some ideas for tasks that you should be doing at home to help support your learning in year six. The more you begin consolidating your learning in the Autumn term, the less concerns you will have as we move towards assessments and SATs at the end of the year. We can take it steady and learn together.

Reading – The more you read, the more ideas you have for your writing. Look to attempt a range of authors and learn from their styles and choices. Reading helps to learn new vocabulary and inspires ideas. Please use your reading diary to record all the books and different material which you are reading at home. (We will check them every day.) We ask that you read at least 3 times a week, make comments and ask your parents to sign to show when they are reading with you too.

Comprehension – You also need to complete a weekly comprehension, focussing on different types of questions. We will discuss the answers in class each week (on a Monday) and try to find patterns in the way we answer the questions, in preparation for the style of questions which will come our way in SATs. (Timetable in the comprehension book and on our class web page each week in preview learning.)

Maths – Use your Maths White Rose booklets to consolidate the work we are doing in class, or get a head start on the next week. Any additional practise will help reinforce your learning and give you the confidence to consolidate your skills. (Check for preview learning each week on our class web page.)

Grammar – Use SPAG.com to consolidate the grammar vocabulary we are learning each week and to familiarise yourself with the type of questions in the SATs. (Timetable attached and on web page.)

Spelling – You will be learning key spellings in school each week. Information about these will be on our preview learning page. Additionally, keep revising and learning both your year 3/4 spelling list and your year 5/6 spelling list, these are important to remember. (You can find them on our school website.) Three or four key words to learn will be set each week and tested each half term.

PE – Just a reminder, PE remains on a Wednesday and Friday.

Fun – Please give yourself a short, dedicated time for school work each night (as it is good training for secondary school) then allow additional time to relax and have fun! This is your last year at primary school and we want you to be happy and secure. Remember, anything you are unsure about, just tell us and we can help you.

We are a team – team year six! Let’s do this!!! Mrs Field, Mrs Riggs and Mrs Parry.

Year 6 Preview Learning: Week commencing 22 November 2021

English

This week in English, we will be continuing to look at stories which contain a ‘time slip’ or a ‘flashback.’ We will be writing our own stories based on an extract from Toy Story 2, where the character of Jessie reflects on being left behind by her owner. We will be applying all of the knowledge we have from our work on the unit so far to write a final polished piece. We will also be reading our own writing aloud, using appropriate volume, tone and intonation. The link to the extract from Toy Story 2 can be found below:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jessie+flashback+toy+story+2&view=detail&mid=80C777ED29911BF06AC280C777ED29911BF06AC2&FORM=VIRE

Spelling

Our year 5 / 6 words to practise this week are: equipment, equipped, especially, exaggerate.

In spelling, we will be working on -ous endings with straightforward adding of -ous to words like danger and poison, and then higher-frequency -ious or -eous endings such as various, curious. Think about breaking the words up into syllables and spelling each part, e.g. poi-son-ous. You could even write the -ous suffix in a different colour or highlight any tricky parts to the word. Year 3 /4 statutory words: famous, various. Year 5 /6 statutory words: conscious, disastrous, marvellous, mischievous. There is further information on the following link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqqsw6f/articles/zqcpv9q

The complete lists of 3/4 and 5/6 spellings are in your spelling folders, on the class webpage and on the links below:

SpellingWordList_Y3-4.pdf (oxfordowl.co.uk)

SpellingWordList_Y5-6.pdf (oxfordowl.co.uk)

Grammar

In grammar, we will be consolidating our understanding of subordinate clauses and the use of conjunctions. A subordinate clause contains both a subject and a verb. A subordinate clause must be attached to a main clause as it would not make sense on its own. For example “I was hungry because I missed breakfast”. In this sentence “because I missed breakfast” is the subordinate clause to the main clause “I was hungry”. The subordinate clause may also appear at the beginning of the sentence, for example: “Unless it is the weekend, I don’t eat meat.” Here the subordinate clause is “unless it is the weekend.” Subordinate clauses often start with these words…after, although, as, because, even, how, if, now, once, since, so, than, unless, where, when, whenever, where, wherever, while. These words are known as subordinating conjunctions. There are further explanations on the following link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zsv6qfr

Please complete the ‘Subordinate clauses and conjunctions B’ SPAG.com. Your logins will be in your reading diary.

Reading and Comprehension

Please ensure you are reading with your parents regularly, with at least three entries with parent signatures in your reading diary. Don’t forget to complete a book review each time you finish your book for a chance to be entered into the prize draw.

The comprehension text for the week will be: ‘The Great Wall of China.’ Please complete the inference questions on pages 38-39 of your non-fiction workbook, we will then discuss the possible answers in class next Monday.

Maths

In maths, we will be continuing our unit of work on fractions. This week we will be consolidating how to find fractions of amounts with unit and non-unit fractions. One of the ways we will think about this process is through the use of the bar model. If we know that 1/5 of 40 kg is equal to 8 kg, how can we find 2/5 of 40 kg? To find 2/5, we need to find the total value of 2 of the parts. 2 × 8 kg = 16 kg therefore 2/5 of 40 kg = 16 kg.